WILL THE next USC coach be at Cal’s Golden Bear Classic the next two nights?

Pepperdine’s Paul Westphal isn’t talking about his alma mater, but Cal coaching legend Pete Newell has doubts about another high-profile coach being mentioned as the Trojans’ next boss.

Newell said he hasn’t talked with good friend Bob Knight in about a week, but Newell doesn’t believe the 64-year-old Texas Tech coach would make the move to Los Angeles.

“I guess I would be a little surprised,” Newell said, in reaction to a report in the Los Angeles Times that said Knight has told others he might be willing to talk with USC. “He likes it in Texas, he’s built a home there.”

Knight, of course, would be a PR coup for the Trojans, who hired Rick Majerus last week, only to have the former Utah coach change his mind over the weekend because of health concerns.

“Those writers at the (Los Angeles) Times, they’d have a feast day,” Newell said, referring to Knight. “But one of the things Bobby likes about Texas more than (Indiana) is he’s out of the limelight. It would surprise me.”

Westphal, whose Waves play Arkansas State tonight at Haas Pavilion, was a two-time All-America guard at USC and a very productive NBA player, who coached the Phoenix Suns to the 1993 NBA finals.

Westphal, 54, is an obvious potential candidate, but will not do anything to distract his Pepperdine team.

“It’s been easy to deal with — I just don’t say anything,” Westphal said Tuesday. “I like it here a lot. It’s flattering whenever my name is mentioned. I just don’t think there’s anything to be gained by me saying anything.”

Tim Floyd, who has coached in college at Iowa State, New Orleans and Idaho, and in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Hornets, now is viewed as perhaps the front-runner for the USC job.

THE RECRUITING TRAIL: Cal coach Ben Braun is scouring Illinois again for future talent. The Bears are in the mix with promising junior prospect Jon Scheyer, a 6-foot-6 guard from Glenbrook North High, a Chicago suburb.

Scheyer, rated the No.57 high school junior in the country by Rivals.com, averaged 25 points, six rebounds and six assists last year for a 25-4 team, earning first-team all-state honors in Illinois as a sophomore.

THIS WAS PERSONAL: The story out of Seattle goes that Washington had all kinds of motivation Sunday for playing North Carolina State and its senior guard Julius Hodge.

Seems that Hodge ran into a couple of Huskies players at a McDonald’s last year when UW played at N.C. State, and said he planned to rack up 40 points against them. Hodge scored only 11 in the game, but the Wolfpack won, and Hodge supposedly rubbed it in by striking a Heisman Trophy pose.

The Huskies squared things in Seattle, their 68-64 decision handing N.C. State its first loss of the season. And late in the game, with guard Brandon Roy defending Hodge on a key possession, the Wolfpack star stumbled and was called for traveling.

“I mean, he’s on the ground, and I’m standing over him,” said Roy, who returned early from a knee injury to play in the game. “It was a great moment.”

AROUND THE PAC-10: The Pac-10 is No.2 in the RPI computer rankings, largely on the strength of Washington (No.4), Arizona (No.6) and Oregon (No.11). … Lute Olson’s suspension of Arizona senior Salim Stoudamire for Saturday’s game at Marquette followed a week where the coach held the shooting guard out of practice on the heels of a scoreless effort vs. Utah. “He has to have a positive attitude, not only verbally, but physically,” Olson said. “It’s all about the team. … If he doesn’t shoot as well as he normally does, then he gets down on himself. You can’t be a leader like that.” … Arizona State junior forward Ike Diogu is averaging an astounding 10 made free throws per game. At that pace, with 513 for his career entering play tonight, Diogu would break the Pac-10 record of 711, held by UCLA’s Don MacLean, by the end of this season.

AROUND THE WCC: The WCC is No.8 in the latest conference RPI computer ratings, its highest ranking ever. … USF’s six-game win streak is its longest since winning 12 in a row in 1999-2000. … Gonzaga sophomore point guard Derek Raivio has accumulated these impressive numbers in wins over Washington and Georgia Tech: 42 points, 10 assists, 1 turnover. … With their decisive win over Tech, the Zags are 5-0 vs. the Atlantic Coast Conference over the past seven seasons. … Santa Clara tries for its third high-profile win of the season tonight at Arizona State, whose 8-1 start is its best in 14 years. The Broncos (7-4) previously have beaten North Carolina and Stanford.

(Click here if you are unable to view this photo gallery on your mobile device) The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek celebrates the life of its founder Ruth Bancroft who died at 109 on November 26, 2017. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a nonprofit public dry garden that was planted by Mrs. Ruth Bancroft in 1972 and was opened to the...